The regulation of epithelial cells volume in norm and pathology

Abstract

The ability to regulate volume in response to changes in intracellular and extracellular osmolarity is one of the fundamental cell functions. Cell volume changes stimulate a variety of intracellular signaling cascades that activate protective and adaptive mechanisms. In general, the regulation of volume occurs due to the transport of osmolytes, which results in the restoration of the intracellular water volume and the normalization of cellular functions. In this review we focused on the physiological significance of regulatory volume decrease (RVD) and regulatory volume increase (RVI) in response to fluctuations of extra- and intracellular osmolarity in the context of epithelial cells.

Keywords

• volume regulation
• epithelial cells
• proliferation
• migration
• carcinogenesis